1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices interposed between boats and pilings to which the boats are moored. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices especially adapted to prevent boats from being damaged by the pilings as the boats rise and fall in the water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a boat is in the water and moored to a pile or piling, there is a risk that the boat may be damaged by the piling as the boat rises and fall in the water. The risk of damage is especially acute in times of rapidly rising and falling water, such as occurs in storms. Throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to devices which help prevent a boat from being damaged by pilings during times of rising and falling water, and the following patents are representative of some of those innovations: U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,598 of Soderberg, U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,209 of Giese, U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,779 of Jaynes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,576 of Mills, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,757 of Diagiacomo.
More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,598 of Soderberg discloses a device with which a boat can be moored and float up and down in water. With the device, a pair of poles that are driven into earth under a body of water are fitted with floats that ride up and down on the poles as the boat rises and falls. in the water. The boat is moored to the floats. Driving poles into the earth under a body of water requires considerable effort. In this respect, it would be desirable if a device were provided that prevents a boat from being damaged during times of rising and falling water which does not require driving poles into the earth under a body of water.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,209 of Giese discloses a device with which a boat can be moored and float up and down in water. With the device, an upward extender is attached to the side of a dock, and a descending tube is attached to the upward extender. The boat is moored to the descending tube, and the boat rises and falls in the water with its mooring roped sliding up and down on the descending tube. With the Giese device, each dock must be equipped with a device. As a practical matter, most docks are not actually equipped with such a device. In terms of practicality, it would be desirable if a device that prevents a boat from being damaged during times of rising and falling water can be portable and carried along in the boat so that the device would be readily available each time the boat is ready to dock.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,779 of Jaynes discloses a device with which a boat can be moored and float up and down in water. With the device, a C-shaped upward/downward extender is attached with U-shaped clamps to the side of a dock, and a cable is attached between opposite ends of the C-shaped upward/downward extender. A sleeve slides on the cable, and a boat is moored to the sleeve. Portions of the C-shaped upward/downward extender can be disassembled when not in use. When the boat rises and falls in the water, the sleeve rises and falls along the cable. With this device, a sleeve is constantly riding up and down on a cable. There is a degree of frictional contact between the sleeve and the cable, and each time the sleeve rides on the cable, the frictional contact causes wear and tear on the sleeve and the cable. To avoid such wear and tear, it would be desirable if a device were provided that prevents a boat from being damaged during times of rising and falling water which does not use a sleeve that rides up and down on a cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,576 of Mills discloses a device with which a boat can be moored and float up and down in water. With the device, a tripod is attached to the top of a dock, and a descending post is attached to the tripod. A carriage is supported on the descending post, and a boat is moored to the carriage. When the boat rises and falls in the water, the carriage rises and falls along the descending post. With this device, a carriage is constantly riding up and down on a descending post. There is a degree of frictional wear and tear between moving parts within the carriage each time the carriage rides on the descending post. To avoid such wear and tear, it would be desirable if a device were provided that prevents a boat from being damaged during times of rising and falling water which does not employ a carriage which has internal moving parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,757 of Diagiacomo discloses a piling extender in FIGS. 11 and 12. The piling extender appears to be received telescopically on the piling. The piling extender is not strapped onto the piling. The piling extender is a one-piece structure that is not collapsible. A top bracket is located at the top of the piling extender, and a bottom bracket is attached to a portion of the piling below the level of the dock. Cables extend between the top bracket and the bottom bracket. A pulley assembly is carried by the cable, and a boat is moored to the pulley assembly. When the boat rises and falls in the water, the pulley assembly rises and falls along the cable. The pulleys in the pulley assembly have moving parts as the pulley assembly rises and falls along the cable as the boat rises and falls in the water. As discussed above in relation to U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,576, there is frictional wear and tear between moving parts as the parts move as the boat rises and falls in the water. To avoid such wear and tear, it would be desirable if a device were provided that prevents a boat from being damaged during times of rising and falling water which does not employ a pulley assembly which has internal moving parts.
In addition, it is noted that U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,757 employs a piling extender that fits onto the top of a piling in a substantially permanent way. In this respect, that piling extender is not portable. Moreover, that piling extender is not collapsible, and as such, is not suitable for being carried on a boat for use on docks and pilings wherever the boat docks.
In addition to the patents discussed above, the following patents may also be of interest: U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,363 of James and U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,364 of Darder-Alomar.
More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,363 of James discloses a mooring fender that straps onto a portion of a piling that extends above a dock. The fender does not extend above the top of the piling. The boat is not moored to the fender.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,364 of Darder-Alomar discloses a protective fender that straps onto a portion of a piling that extends above and below a dock. The fender does not extend above the top of the piling. The boat is not moored to the fender.
With respect to the patents discussed above, it is noted that none of those patents discloses a piling extender which is collapsible for portability and storage. In this respect, these are key features of the present invention.
Still other features would be desirable in a portable piling extender apparatus. For example, for a portable piling extender apparatus, it would be desirable if the apparatus were easily attached to and removed from a piling. In addition, for securing the straps to a piling, it would be desirable if strap buckles or clamps are provided for strongly securing the straps to the piling. In addition, when a piling extender portion is attached to a unit is attached to the piling, it would be desirable if the piling extender portion and the piling-attached unit were locked together.
A piling, in a horizontal cross-sectional plane, is generally round in cross-section. On the other hand, in a horizontal cross-sectional plane, the rubrail of a boat is generally linear in cross-section. With this in mind, to be more compatible with the linear horizontal cross-section of the rubrail, it would be desirable if the horizontal cross-section of a piling extender provides a generally linear contact region with the rubrail of the boat.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use a device that prevents a boat from being damaged during times of rising and falling water, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a portable piling extender apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) does not require driving poles into the earth under a body of water; (2) is portable and is carried along in a boat so that the apparatus is readily available each time the boat is ready to dock; (3) does not use a sleeve that rides up and down on a cable; (4) does not employ a carriage which has internal moving parts; (5) is easily attached to and removed from a piling; (6) includes strap buckles or clamps for strongly securing attachment straps to a piling; (7) includes a piling extender portion and a piling-attached unit which are locked together; and (8) has a generally linear horizontal cross-section for contacting a rubrail of a boat which also has a linear horizontal cross-section. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique portable piling extender apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other-advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.
To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, the present invention, briefly described, provides a portable piling extender apparatus which includes a piling attachment unit which includes a piling fence portion. A manually operable strap assembly is connected to the piling fence portion. A riser fence unit is provided, and alignment connectors are provided for connecting the riser fence unit to the piling fence portion. Alignment locks are provided for locking the riser fence unit to the piling fence portion.
Preferably, the piling fence portion includes a pair of piling fence tubes, and a pair of first transverse struts are connected between the piling fence tubes. The front faces of the piling fence tubes are substantially coplanar.
The strap assembly includes a first strap unit and second strap units. The first strap unit includes a first strap member, and a first strap lock is connected to the first strap member. The second strap units include second strap members, and second strap locks are connected to the second strap members. The second strap locks include strap tensioning ratcheted locks, and buckle ends are received in the strap tensioning ratcheted locks.
The piling fence tubes include first strap reception channels and second strap reception channels. The first strap member is threaded through the first strap reception channels, and second strap members are threaded through the second strap reception channels.
The riser fence unit includes riser fence tubes, and second transverse struts are connected between the riser fence tubes. The front faces of the riser fence tubes are substantially coplanar. In this respect, the front faces of the piling fence tubes and the front faces of the riser fence tubes are substantially coplanar when the riser fence tubes are connected to the piling fence tubes. The front faces of the piling fence tubes and the front faces of the riser fence tubes further include fence cushions.
The riser fence unit further includes riser tube caps located on top of the riser fence tubes. The riser tube caps have rounded tops. The riser tube caps are made from cushiony material. The riser fence tubes are registrable with the piling fence tubes. The alignment connectors can be in a form of connector tubes. The alignment locks can include flexible tethers connected to either the first transverse struts or the second transverse struts. Lock pins are connected to the flexible tethers. First pin reception channels are located in the piling fence tubes and the riser fence tubes, and second pin reception channels are located in the connector tubes. The piling fence tubes includes alignment connector tube stops located inside the piling fence tubes.
The above brief description sets forth rather broadly the more important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contributions to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will be for the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining a preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood, that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus which does not require driving poles into the earth under a body of water.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a piling extender apparatus that is portable and is carried along in a boat so that the apparatus is readily available each time the boat is ready to dock.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus which does not use a sleeve that rides up and down on a cable.
Even another object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus that does not employ a carriage which has internal moving parts.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus that is easily attached to and removed from a piling.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus which includes strap buckles or clamps for strongly securing attachment straps to a piling.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus that includes a piling extender portion and a piling-attached unit which are locked together.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a portable piling extender apparatus that has a generally linear horizontal cross-section for contacting a rubrail of a boat which also has a linear horizontal cross-section.